How To Save Money When Buying Groceries: 4 Easy Tips

When we became a one income family the first thing we had to adjust was our budget. We cut our miscellaneous spending to buying only what we needed and then our grocery budget was next.

With a growing family of six at that time my grocery bill was about $150 to $200 every week. You can see I had some major adjustments to make. I still wanted to buy the foods and snacks the family enjoyed so that meant I had to carefully plan meals and stick to the budget we made for our food bill at the time.

To be quite honest I was more focused on the time it was going to take to search and clip coupons, then the money I could be saving. I had never paid attention to coupons before but that soon changed after I started to realize the savings potential those little pieces of paper hold.

There are four important things we can do to save money when we buy groceries. And if you’re looking for some tips you’ve come to the right place because that’s what I’m going to share with you today. Let’s get right to it then.

Coupons

If you haven’t joined the coupon craze I’m going to change your mind today. Like I mentioned earlier, I didn’t want to take time to search and clip for coupons until I saw how much I can save with them.

I wrote a post titled All You Need To Know About Coupons that will break it down for you and show you where you can get coupons. Here’s a quick example of how coupons work >> Let’s say you buy items on sale at Walgreens. They are 3/$5.00 plus you get 2,000 reward points which is equal to a $2 off coupon. Plus you have a coupon for .75 cents off those 3 items.

The final price you pay is 3/$4.25 minus the $2 coupon that was printed out, so you end up paying 3/$2.25 which is .75 per item instead of $1.66. The final price you pay for each item is .75 cents.

The $2 off coupon can then be used toward the next purchase. Some folks make two separate purchases to use the $2 on that same day.

Cool, right? If you’re not sure where to get coupons, you can get printable coupons, for all your favorite things, right here.

Sales Ads/Reward Programs

Take a look at your local sales ads for the best deals and take advantage of programs. Walmart has a price comparison program and Kroger’s rewards program offers added savings.

My favorite program is the Kroger Rewards. Not only do they provide digital coupons but I save more money because the points I earn saves me .10 cents on fuel. They even have a mobile app to make it easier for us.

Make A Grocery List

You don’t want go to the grocery store without a list or you’ll be picking up items you don’t need and before you know it you’re spending more than you wanted to. A list helps you stay in control of your purchases and keeps more money in the bank.

Plan Meals

Planning your meals is a great money saver. Start by using stuff you already have in the fridge and pantry and make your list based on what items you need to complete your meals. I’ve ended up with two boxes of Minute Rice because I didn’t check to see if I had any before I went to the store so you can say I’ve learned the hard way. :-)

Over To You

Those are the four steps we should take so we can save money on our grocery bill. Now here comes the fun part. Let’s dish about how you save money on your grocery bill. Fill out the comments section below and tell us how you do it.

One more thing before you go. I would really appreciate it if you’d post this in your social media networks so we can spread these money-saving tips.

Here’s to saving money!

Corina Ramos

Corina is a work-from-home mom rolling with the punches while trying to balance a family and an online business. She is dealing with teens, grey hair, and wrinkles all at the same time! She recently launched a new blog known as Not Now Mom's Busy which talks about teen issues, juggling family life with work life, living on a budget, and so much more.

Great tips, Corina! I find meal planning critical to keeping me on budget. Otherwise, I'm just randomly picking up things. Even worse, I'm often standing in front of the fridge wondering what to make for dinner when I don't have a meal plan and oddball items in my fridge and cabinets. :)

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Thanks and we have to agree, Corina. We follow these tips to the "t". At first it took a long time, then we got better and can bust our a grocery list and weekly menu in a half hour. That's worth the savings to use.

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Great tips but I just can't seem to do it, lol! My vice is the grocery store...that\s where I spend the most! I DO make a grocery list and plan meals ahead of time but then I see other ingredients NOT on my list and think of NEW recipes I can make and then always buy more, lol!

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Well Lisa, they say the first step is to admit there's a problem, LOL. ;) I have that problem too only it's when I go through the bakery department! The next thing I know I've got a cheesecake and a pack of cookies in my basket :).

Sounds to me we just need to have a little more control. If you try to stick to your list and I go around the bakery department we just might be able to do it! LOL.

Thanks for sharing Lisa! Have a great day hon!

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Don't forget to check the discount sections of the grocery store. From canned goods to produce, you can get bargain prices on foods that are near or at their posted pull date, yet still have plenty of potential. I often get potatoes, bananas, apples, and even limes at half price, or better, that way. :-)

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Another tip you might want to consider is not bringing your little kids while out shopping! Even the sweetest face will definitely sneak in a pack or two or three or four of his/her favorite junks and sweets.

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Excellent tips, Corina - I'm lucky in that my husband does most of the cooking and plans our shopping very well. I agree with you that planning your meals in advance and shopping accordingly can make a big difference.

I'd also add don't go shopping when you're hungry, because you end up buying far too much chocolate! Also try to avoid buying too much stuff in bulk - it's easy to buy more than you need and then you end up throwing it out because it goes past its sell by date.

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Great tips, Corina! I still need to get better with cutting coupons but so many of them you need to buy multiples, which I don't like to do. I used to waste a lot of food so I'm careful to buy only what I know I'll eat. I am very good at building my meal plan for the week around the sales flyers so I know I'm still saving money. Also, I find Target is generally cheaper than the grocery store when it comes to pantry staples, unless the grocery store is having a great sale. But I buy most of my canned goods, baking supplies and even eggs and butter at Target.

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I love to use my grocery app to put coupons on my card electronically.I can sit in the car and put the coupons on before I walk in, and add anything to my list that's on sale! I also plan my meals by the week, this helps save me from having lots of food going unused. Don't forget to sign up for gas rewards...I save 70 cents off every gallon this week!

stopping by from bloggy moms blog hop prairiewifeinheels.com

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